Michael Jackson's Doctor Prepared to Surrender, His Attorney Says

A lawyer for Michael Jackson's personal physician said Tuesday that the Houston-based doctor is in Los Angeles and prepared to surrender if authorities file charges against him in the pop star's death.

"I don't have any specific information that leads me to believe he is going to be charged this week," said lawyer Ed Chernoff, " but if he is, we've made it clear he's available to turn himself in."

The arrival of Dr. Conrad Murray and Chernoff, his lead attorney, from Houston set off a new round of speculation that authorities, who have been mulling a manslaughter case against the doctor since last summer, were about to file charges.

Chernoff said Murray was visiting Los Angeles on personal matters — he has an infant son in nearby Santa Monica — and also planned to attend a strategy session Tuesday afternoon with his criminal defense team, made up of Chernoff, local counsel J. Michael Flanagan and Long Beach attorney Joseph Low IV. Low represents Nicole Alvarez, the mother of Murray's infant son.

Murray acknowledged administering the anesthetic propofol to Jackson shortly before his death on June 25, according to police affidavits. An autopsy classified Jackson's death as a homicide and said the cause was "acute propofol intoxication" in combination with the use of sedatives.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (c) 2010.